Video: Meteor explosion causes UFO scare in South Carolina

Greenville
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Some residents of South Carolina panicked after they were awakened early Monday morning by the boom of a powerful explosion and bright blue flash in the sky as a large object plunged to the Earth.

The unidentified object was caught on video plummeting earthward, around Greenville County. It exploded in midair with a boom that shook several homes in cities in South Carolina.

Open Minds TV reports the explosion occurred sometime around 1.40 a.m. on Monday, February 13. It caused some panic, and according to Daily Mail, several 911 calls were placed to police stations and fire fighters dispatched.

Cindie Stubbs, who witnessed the explosion, told Fox4: "I saw this big bright light that made the sand kind of almost sparkle, it was so bright. I thought the aliens were coming."

Open Minds TV reports another witness told Fox affiliate, Fox Carolina, that she “saw lights, heard a boom, then heard a crash in the woods near her home.” She said: "It was like a giant spotlight, and it was only there for, like, four or five seconds.” The explosion made her walls shake. Another witness saw the fireball zipping across the sky and later heard an explosion.

Dr. Charles St Lucas of the Roper Mountain Science Center, told Fox 4 that the explosion was likely caused by a kind of meteor called a bolide. He said: "It sounds like a typical bolide. This one broke apart into three or four different pieces, glowed a bright blue white."

According to the American Meteor Society, bolides are a special type of bright meteor that explode before making impact with a bright flash similar to one seen in Greenville. According to St Lucas, the blue color indicates it was composed of copper or copper chloride. He discounts the possiblity of falling "space junk."

Huffington Post reports bright meteors falling to Earth are common occurrences. In February, a light streaked across Texas and was caught on police camera.